RIP Frank… RIP…

Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reportedly threatened to fire top employees at the the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) after officials contradicted President Trump’s claim that Alabama could be impacted by Hurricane Dorian.

Trump faced pushback from meteorologists last week after stating that Alabama would potentially feel the effects of Dorian. The warning, which came via tweet, prompted the National Weather Service’s Birmingham branch to emphasize on Twitter that the state would not be affected by the storm.

Trump adamantly defended his position throughout the week, and at one point displayed a map in the Oval Office that appeared to show a marker-drawn addition to indicate Dorian would hit Alabama.

Ross contacted NOAA acting Administrator Neil Jacobs just two days later and asked him to fix issue related to the perception that the agency had contradicted Trump, The New York Times reported Monday, citing three people familiar with the discussion. The newspaper said that Jacobs initially objected.

He was then told that political staff at the NOAA would be dismissed if the situation wasn’t resolved.

The threat was later followed by an unsigned NOAA statement affirming Trump’s claims and disavowing the tweet from the National Weather Service in Birmingham about the hurricane.

The White House and the Commerce Department declined to comment

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s acting chief scientist said in an email to colleagues Sunday that he is investigating whether the agency’s response to President Trump’s Hurricane Dorian tweets constituted a violation of NOAA policies and ethics. Also on Monday, the director of the National Weather Service broke with NOAA leadership over its handling of Trump’s Dorian tweets and statements.

In an email to NOAA staff that was obtained by The Washington Post, NOAA’s Craig McLean, called the agency’s response “political” and a “danger to public health and safety.”

A NOAA meteorologist who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution said the note, understood internally to be referring to Trump, came after the National Weather Service office in Birmingham contradicted Trump by tweeting Alabama would “NOT see any impacts from the hurricane.”

The Birmingham office sent the tweet after receiving a flurry of phone calls from concerned residents following Trump’s message.

The agency sent a similar message warning scientists and meteorologists not to speak out on Sept. 4, after Trump showed a hurricane map from Aug. 29 modified with a hand-drawn, half-circle in black Sharpie around Alabama.

“This is the first time I’ve felt pressure from above to not say what truly is the forecast,” the meteorologist said. “It’s hard for me to wrap my head around. One of the things we train on is to dispel inaccurate rumors and ultimately that is what was occurring — ultimately what the Alabama office did is provide a forecast with their tweet, that is what they get paid to do.”

An NWS spokesperson said, “NWS leadership sent this guidance to field staff so they (and the entire agency) could maintain operational focus on Dorian and other severe weather hazards without distraction.”

Late Friday afternoon, NOAA officials further angered scientists within and beyond the agency by releasing a statement, attributed to an unnamed agency spokesperson, supporting Trump’s claims on Alabama and chastising the agency’s Birmingham meteorologists for speaking in absolutes.

That statement set off a firestorm among scientists, who attacked NOAA officials for bending to Trump’s will.

“This looks like classic politically motivated obfuscation to justify inaccurate statements made by the boss. It is truly sad to see political appointees undermining the superb, lifesaving work of NOAA’s talented and dedicated career servant,” said Jane Lubchenco, who served as NOAA administrator under President Barack Obama.

NOAA, which oversees the National Weather Service, isn’t the first agency in the Trump administration to publicly side with the president after he has doubled down on a widely disputed claim.

But the firestorm surrounding the president’s hurricane statements is unprecedented in the organization’s history, and threatens to politicize something that most Americans take for granted as an objective, if flawed, part of daily life: the weather forecast…

NOAA’s Friday statement infuriated scientists, who worry the Trump administration is corroding faith in research and data.

“It makes me speechless that the leadership would put [Trump’s] feelings and ego ahead of putting out weather information accurately,” said Michael Halpern, a deputy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “If we’re politicizing the weather what is there left to politicize? We’re seeing this kind of clamp down of scientists across the government, and it’s been an escalating trend.”

HE IS STILL TWEETING about how he was correct in his Alabama statement…

As ER said, the initial incident was minor- it is his behavior that is horrifying. Long before he was elected I marveled at the way his actions broadcast his monumental insecurity, and remarked at how dangerous this would be in a leader… and here we are- his supporters saw his crippling weakness and insecurity and interpreted his bluster as ‘strength’…

There is NO way this ends well- as bad as this is, it will get far worse.

But he felt that he had to make a statement to cover his (very minor) gaffe.
Its not that the man lies, its that he lies when there is no reason or advantage in doing so. He lies because he would rather get caught in an obvious lie than admit he made even the most trivial of errors.

But what is really scary is that he has managed to intimidate and coerce the entire Republican Party to make fools of themselves in an effort to cover up his lies.